Climate impacts are triggering a host of novel bio- and geoengineering interventions to save coral reefs. This Comment challenges heroic scientific assumptions and advocates for a more systemic, evidence-based approach to caring for coral reefs.
References
Morrison, T. H. et al. Nat. Clim. Change 12, 1100–1106 (2022).
Matthews, H. D. & Wynes, S. Science 376, 1404–1409 (2022).
Gattuso, J.-P. et al. Front. Mar. Sci. 5, 337 (2018).
Anthony, K. R. N. et al. PLOS ONE 15, e0236399 (2020).
NOAA confirms 4th global coral bleaching event. NOAA (15 April 2024); https://go.nature.com/3KTfXFg
Einhorn, C. Heat stress is hitting Caribbean reefs earlier than ever this year. The New York Times (16 May 2024).
Foy, A. J. & Filippone, E. J. Yale J. Biol. Med. 86, 271–280 (2013).
Adams, G. S., Converse, B. A., Hales, A. H. & Klotz, L. E. Nature 592, 258–261 (2021).
Jones, H. P. et al. Proc. R. Soc. B 285, 20172577 (2018).
Moreno-Mateos, D. et al. Nat. Commun. 8, 14163 (2017).
Hughes, T. P., Baird, A. H., Morrison, T. H. & Torda, G. One Earth 6, 656–665 (2023).
Johnson, K. G., Jackson, J. B. C. & Budd, A. F. Science 319, 1521–1523 (2008).
Lutzenkirchen, L. L., Duce, S. J. & Bellwood, D. R. Glob. Ecol. Biogeogr. 32, 1353–1364 (2023).
Bellwood, D. R., Streit, R. P., Brandl, S. J. & Tebbett, S. B. Funct. Ecol. 33, 948–961 (2019).
Pecl, G. T. et al. Ambio 48, 1498–1515 (2019).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Peer review
Peer review information
Nature Climate Change thanks Deron Burkepile and Maria Byrne for their contribution to the peer review of this work.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Streit, R.P., Morrison, T.H. & Bellwood, D.R. Coral reefs deserve evidence-based management not heroic interference. Nat. Clim. Chang. 14, 773–775 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-024-02063-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-024-02063-6
- Springer Nature Limited